When my dad said that the yard needed to be mowed I knew that he was talking to me. It was my job to mow the yard. I got paid an allowance for doing it. But I was not always very good at observing when it need to be done. Usually I mowed every week. Sometimes, if the grass was dry, I waited a few days. Or, if there had been a lot of rain, I might have to mow it sooner. During those odd weeks I could always count on Dad to say something about it and I knew it was time to get the job done.
I enjoyed summer vacation. So, there were times during the summer when what I wanted to do conflicted with what Dad wanted me to do. On sunny days the pool down the hill was open. It was tempting to put off the mowing to go to the pool. Problem was, if I delayed the mowing Dad also delayed the allowance and I did not have the money to go to the pool. That was when I knew I needed to mow the grass even if it was hot and inconvenient. If I did not mow I could not swim. I remember more than once getting ready to go to the pool, checking my pockets, and going out to get on the lawnmower instead.
The word for “Repent” in the Bible means to change direction. Sometimes we say that repent means to turn and go in a new direction. To expand on that definition, repent means to recognize what God want us to do and turn and go in the right direction. It is like when I started for the pool and then turned around to do what my Dad wanted instead.
In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10, ESV) In that statement Jesus was teaching us the true meaning of repentance. We need to pray everyday to know God’s will and change our direction to match his desire.
God’s will is for his kingdom on earth to match his kingdom in heaven. The king, in older times, was the ruler of the people and the owner of all the property. The people were the stewards of the king’s property and they gave him most of their crops in exchange for his protection. That is still the way it is in heaven, God owns and rules it all. He wants it to be that way here on earth too but we have to willingly put God in charge of each of our lives. In exchange he promises us protection from death, eternal life in heaven with him.
God’s word, the Bible, is our main source of information on God’s will. He also speaks to us individually in prayer and sometimes a nudge in the right direction. Every nudge from God is always backed up by the Bible. A spiritual nudge can be very personal. He can speak to your conscience about doing the right thing. He can give an intuitive nudge about a need that you would not have known otherwise. We need to listen and tune our hearts to God’s presence as we pray daily for God’s will to be done. We honor God when we do his will. He repays us with an allowance that is out of this world.
Bro. Robin
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Praise
I still have the first trophy I ever got. It was at the end of my fourth grade year. I received the award for being at the top of my class academically. I was excited and proud and did not know how to handle the attention. It sat on the mantle for a year until my neighbor won the award for that year. Then Dad took it off the mantle and gave it to me to put in my room. Praise we receive is temporary.
Praise takes many different forms. When someone tells you that you did a good job, or pats you on the back we are encouraged by that kind of praise. Praise is a way of saying that it was not only the deed that was good but also the act was in character of the person who did it. Praise is an affirmation, the giving of credit, and complimenting a person.
Praise should always be directed toward God. He is worthy of praise. Praise can usually be distinguished from thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the act of being thankful for what God has done. Praise is an acknowledgement of who God is, His character.
The second phrase of the Lord’s Prayer states, “…Hallowed be your name.” (Matthew 6:9b) Jesus taught us to begin prayer with praise for the character of God’s holy name. This phrase not only emphasizes God’s holiness but also specifically addresses God’s holy character. In the thought of that day a person’s name represented his character. Today when we talk about a person having a good name we are referring to his reputation and character. God’s character is holy. He is separate from us and above us and we need to recognize his holy name every day.
When false things are spread about someone we call that defamation of character. Once when I heard some bad things being said about someone I heard a person near me wonder if what was being said was defamation of character or a definition of character. That little play on words can make a big difference. Truth, whether good or bad, is a definition of character. It is praise only if it is good truth. False praise comes from false statements or from a false and insincere heart. God always knows if our praise is true or false.
Praise opens the door to worship and prayer. Praise sets our mind on the character of God so that when we pray we are directing our prayer to the one who listens and answers our prayer. Praise determines our sincerity. It is the only thing we can do to get God’s attention in a positive way. Praising God has eternal consequences.
My trophy is in a box in the attic. Such is the destination of man’s praise. Every morning I sit down to pray and begin with the Lord’s Prayer. I look over the lists and think about the needs and the many answers to prayer I see. This is the destination of our praise of God. “Hallowed be your name!”
Bro. Robin
Praise takes many different forms. When someone tells you that you did a good job, or pats you on the back we are encouraged by that kind of praise. Praise is a way of saying that it was not only the deed that was good but also the act was in character of the person who did it. Praise is an affirmation, the giving of credit, and complimenting a person.
Praise should always be directed toward God. He is worthy of praise. Praise can usually be distinguished from thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the act of being thankful for what God has done. Praise is an acknowledgement of who God is, His character.
The second phrase of the Lord’s Prayer states, “…Hallowed be your name.” (Matthew 6:9b) Jesus taught us to begin prayer with praise for the character of God’s holy name. This phrase not only emphasizes God’s holiness but also specifically addresses God’s holy character. In the thought of that day a person’s name represented his character. Today when we talk about a person having a good name we are referring to his reputation and character. God’s character is holy. He is separate from us and above us and we need to recognize his holy name every day.
When false things are spread about someone we call that defamation of character. Once when I heard some bad things being said about someone I heard a person near me wonder if what was being said was defamation of character or a definition of character. That little play on words can make a big difference. Truth, whether good or bad, is a definition of character. It is praise only if it is good truth. False praise comes from false statements or from a false and insincere heart. God always knows if our praise is true or false.
Praise opens the door to worship and prayer. Praise sets our mind on the character of God so that when we pray we are directing our prayer to the one who listens and answers our prayer. Praise determines our sincerity. It is the only thing we can do to get God’s attention in a positive way. Praising God has eternal consequences.
My trophy is in a box in the attic. Such is the destination of man’s praise. Every morning I sit down to pray and begin with the Lord’s Prayer. I look over the lists and think about the needs and the many answers to prayer I see. This is the destination of our praise of God. “Hallowed be your name!”
Bro. Robin
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Eight Minute Relationships
I asked the lift operator, as I was getting off, how long does the lift take from bottom to top. “Seven minutes, unless it’s slow like today, then eight minutes.”
Eight minutes! It is amazing what two people can learn about each other in eight minutes. In eight minutes I learned about all the places in Europe one of our exchange students has skied and how excited he was to ski Colorado. I met a ten year old who was excited that her parents let her ski by herself.
Most of the time I rode with people I already knew. Each time we talked and shared and learned something about each other. When I was with strangers it was a little different. Each time I looked for a way to turn the conversation to God. On the slopes the people we saw were objects to avoid running into. On the lifts we had a brief opportunity to know one of those objects as a person and perhaps share a brief witness of Christ in eight minutes.
Last year I shared the gospel with an expert skier. In eight minutes I learned about the thrill of his level of skiing. He learned how much I appreciate what God has created and done for me. At first he acted like he did not want to talk about God but waited until the ride was over to put his ear buds in and turn up his iPod. We could have passed the eight minutes in silence. But, life is too short to waste an opportunity to share some evidence of Jesus in our lives, no matter how brief.
In eight minutes I learned that the person riding with me lived in a nearby town and worked two jobs. One job was for a florist and the other at a winery. We joked about whether flowers and wine go together. I told her I was a pastor and did not drink. I reflected that I knew too many people who could not handle alcohol. I asked about her church and her relationship with God. She told me she was a Lutheran and reminded me that Martin Luther made his own beer. She also agreed that alcohol was an anesthetic and should not be abused. We both agreed that it is important to raise children in the church with good values.
In John 4, Jesus met a woman at a well in Samaria. It was not a very long conversation. In that brief encounter he found out all there was to know about her, (verse 39). She discovered that Jesus was the Messiah, (verse 29). It takes less than eight minutes to read the conversation yet it changed her life and later changed her whole town.
Eight minutes is not long enough for us to have a life long relationship with another person. It is long enough for us to introduce someone else to a life changing relationship with Jesus. Think about it the next time you are staring at the elevator buttons, or talking to wait-staff at a restaurant, or … riding on a ski lift.
Bro. Robin
Eight minutes! It is amazing what two people can learn about each other in eight minutes. In eight minutes I learned about all the places in Europe one of our exchange students has skied and how excited he was to ski Colorado. I met a ten year old who was excited that her parents let her ski by herself.
Most of the time I rode with people I already knew. Each time we talked and shared and learned something about each other. When I was with strangers it was a little different. Each time I looked for a way to turn the conversation to God. On the slopes the people we saw were objects to avoid running into. On the lifts we had a brief opportunity to know one of those objects as a person and perhaps share a brief witness of Christ in eight minutes.
Last year I shared the gospel with an expert skier. In eight minutes I learned about the thrill of his level of skiing. He learned how much I appreciate what God has created and done for me. At first he acted like he did not want to talk about God but waited until the ride was over to put his ear buds in and turn up his iPod. We could have passed the eight minutes in silence. But, life is too short to waste an opportunity to share some evidence of Jesus in our lives, no matter how brief.
In eight minutes I learned that the person riding with me lived in a nearby town and worked two jobs. One job was for a florist and the other at a winery. We joked about whether flowers and wine go together. I told her I was a pastor and did not drink. I reflected that I knew too many people who could not handle alcohol. I asked about her church and her relationship with God. She told me she was a Lutheran and reminded me that Martin Luther made his own beer. She also agreed that alcohol was an anesthetic and should not be abused. We both agreed that it is important to raise children in the church with good values.
In John 4, Jesus met a woman at a well in Samaria. It was not a very long conversation. In that brief encounter he found out all there was to know about her, (verse 39). She discovered that Jesus was the Messiah, (verse 29). It takes less than eight minutes to read the conversation yet it changed her life and later changed her whole town.
Eight minutes is not long enough for us to have a life long relationship with another person. It is long enough for us to introduce someone else to a life changing relationship with Jesus. Think about it the next time you are staring at the elevator buttons, or talking to wait-staff at a restaurant, or … riding on a ski lift.
Bro. Robin
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